


Terms of Endearment

by tymbal



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Parental Relationships, Slice of Life, Trauma Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 18:46:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14291115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tymbal/pseuds/tymbal
Summary: An episodic little fic filling in some of the missing scenes (and misadventures) between Rapunzel's escape from Gothel and her acclimation to Corona castle.She and Eugene both have a lot to learn about themselves and each other right now... and it may put their tentatively blossoming relationship immediately to the test.





	Terms of Endearment

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for dropping by my humble fic of ship feelings, enjoy your stay

 

Love has no middle term; either it destroys, or it saves.

\- Victor Hugo

 

~

 

There’s some scenes I forgot to mention, in that whole story of how I died deal. Maybe they were downers. Or kinda embarrassing and personal. But sometimes these days I think they might be some of the most important parts of the story. Those littler scenes.

Like how after our first few kisses--happy, relieved, terribly uncoordinated kisses--we just sat there in silence for awhile, on the floor of what had once been Rapunzel’s room. Her prison, more like.

It occurred to me that when I first broke in, I really had no idea of the insidiousness of this place. Even after she’d beaned me in the head with a frying pan (multiple times, mind) I didn’t have a clue that this quaint little room with its colorful paintings crowding every available wall was actually a place of great pain.

Back then I also had no idea how strong this girl was. It’s funny how much can change in so little time… especially in a life like mine that’s always been so much of the same bad ideas.

We sat huddled together, her partly in my lap, just clinging to each other like our closeness was the only thing keeping us from crumbling under the weight of this place and what had just happened to us.

She started crying again, quietly. I just sorta rested my chin on her now shorter hair and waited. My heart broke for her.

“We killed my mother,” she said finally.

That was the last time she ever referred to Gothel as her mother. But she was so completely honest about it.

What do you say to a thing like that?

I couldn’t apologize because I wasn’t sorry, not really. But I wasn’t happy about it either. There was no celebration, only a deep sadness, something that would stay with us both for a long time. Maybe it would never quite go away, especially not for Rapunzel.

I felt powerless in the face of all that. The only thing a guy like me could offer was the rare truth that I really did care about Rapunzel more than I’d cared about anyone in a considerable percentage of my life. I wasn’t used to loving people. I didn’t even love myself (plot twist, I know). But I was starting to love Rapunzel in a way that frankly kind of scared me.

It scared me, but also it was all I could give her in this place.

So I held her as tightly as I could, kissed her forehead, and she cried as much as she needed to.

Pascal--bless that little toad--nosed a box across the floor. It was a messy collection of paints.

“Getting ready to pack, huh?” I said, alarming myself at how raspy and near tears I sounded too.

If Rapunzel was free now, free forever, she surely wouldn’t be back here ever again. So if she wanted to keep anything…

She sniffed gamely, squaring her shoulders against my chest.

“No…” she said. “Thanks, Pascal, but I don’t think I want to take anything with me.”

“Not even me?” I asked. I meant it as a joke, trying to cheer her up, but her laugh sounded too much like a sob.

My shirt was all wet from tears and snot and oh hey blood, but I still clung to her like an octopus.

“Let’s just get out of here,” I offered.

She took some deep breaths, steeled herself again, and nodded.

That’s my girl.

We stepped right over the coiled brown remains of her hair and, leaning against each other, we ducked out into the first creeping sunlight of morning.

 

~

 

Maximus, in his dutiful way, was very fussy and happy to see us get down in one piece. If not for his hooves, I’m sure he would have scaled that tower himself.

He snuffle-whinnied into Rapunzel’s new hairdo. “My hero,” she cooed at him. I tried not to be jealous. 

“Where to?” I asked her.

You can’t really take back dying words, as embarrassing as they might be. I’d meant it when I said the future I wanted now was with her. Wherever that went.

She closed her eyes, still puffy from crying, and tilted her face up toward the sun.

“Well… I guess I owe my parents an explanation.”

“Your parents?”

She gave me a sudden nervous smile, still leaning against Maximus. Pascal on her shoulder was looking equally shifty.

“Oh. That’s right. I’ve got some news,” she said.

“After the magic hair, I’m immune to surprises,” I told her.

I was wrong.

Turns out she was the princess all along.

Go figure.

Good job Eugene, I told myself. Now you can add conning royalty to your resume.

And kissing royalty.

Wait, this was insane.

“Please don’t freak out,” she said.

“Freak out? Me? I never freak out,” I said, freaking out.

We’d been removing Maximus’ ornate saddle while she dropped this information bomb on me. The plan was we could both ride him out of here if it was bareback, and he was all too willing to help.

“I know I can’t really ask you to risk taking me back into town--” she started.

“Stop.” I pointed an accusatory finger at her. “None of that talk. You’re stuck with me, unfortunately.”

She smiled at me. “You didn’t leave me behind,” she said, not really a question.

“Nope,” I agreed, smacking the p. I took a moment to fiddle with the clasps of Maximus’ stirrups, clearing the sudden lump in my throat. “... You know I couldn’t, right?”

Her smile grew. It was a huge one. “Yeah.”

Woof. I haven’t said yet how pretty Rapunzel is sometimes. I mean, you can see it for yourself, you don’t need my input. But I guess it was more discoveries for old Eugene. I’d been through so much with this girl, and can you believe it, at first I hadn’t even noticed how pretty she was.

Her front teeth are kinda too big. She’s got these freckles on her nose that kinda look like a scuff of dirt if you’re far away enough. Those sound like bad things but they aren’t, they’re the best parts. She smiles in this way like she’s never been hurt before and can never be hurt again, and knowing how untrue that is blows me away sometimes. It takes power to smile like that.

And I’d thought she was just an airhead at first. What can I say, I’ve made a living off of poor judgment.

With Maximus’ gear tossed aside, I gave Rapunzel a leg up onto his back. Her skirts were already tied up in an awkward knot at her hip--it was the solution we'd found for her climbing down the side of a stone tower in a dress. Her knees were exposed, and perhaps a little too much thigh as well, but I can say with uncharacteristic honesty that it was completely unsexy. It was a weird level of intimacy perhaps, but at that point it didn't even occur to us not to simply be comfortable with each other. I guess getting stabbed does that to a person.

I climbed up behind her, and Maximus immediately started trotting us back toward town from his own memory. The fatigue of the sleepless night and all that had happened started to sink in. The adrenaline was gone and I was just tired as hell.

“I don't know about you, but I could use a stiff royal drink, Blondie.”

_Blondie_. I eyed her apologetically, her now very brown hair framing her neck. It had just kinda fallen out of my mouth, the stupidest thing possible to say.

But thank god I said it, because she actually threw her head back and laughed.

Oh man. With that sound, the rest of the pain just fell away. For now, at least, the future looked beautiful.

 

~


End file.
